ASVAB and the US Marines

7 Things that You Need to Know about ASVAB for Marines

All the branches of the US armed forces, including the US Marines,
use the ASVAB test for selecting the candidates and classifying them
into appropriate job roles. The purpose of this timed test battery is
to assess candidates' abilities and skills for a variety of occupations
within and outside the forces.

As among all the US armed forces, the Marine Corps also have some of the highest criteria for enlisting.
If a career in the Marine Corps is what you are dreaming of, it is wise
that you prepare ahead well enough. Read on to find about the important
aspects of the test - test content, question types, test duration, and specific AFQT and ASVAB score requirements.

ASVAB for Marines - Test Content, Duration, and Scores

The test content, question types, and the duration of the ASVAB test
are in no way different for the various branches of the armed services.
And, as the other armed forces, the Marine Corps also have minimum AFQT and line score requirements for enlisting. Also, it is not the individual ASVAB scores or AFQT scores that count, rather the relative scores or Standard Scores against the scores of a sample set of applicants.

Here is a list of seven important points that you need to know about the test for the Marines :

The test contains 10 or 9 subtests (ten if you are taking the CAT-ASVAB and nine in the P&P-ASVAB) that include multiple-choice questions from four core areas namely:

Verbal

Science and Technical

Mathematical

Spatial

The subtests and the number of questions in each subtest are as
follows. Note that CAT-ASVAB tests the Auto and Shop Information as two
different tests, but scores them together:

The time duration of the test differs based on the version of
the test you take. While the CAT-ASVAB generally takes less time to
finish, as it is an adaptive test that allows finishing the test at
your own pace within the time bounds; the P&P-version takes almost
three hours to conclude (http://official-asvab.com/whattoexpect_app.htm).

The scores of only four subtests are considered
to arrive at the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) score that
determines the eligibility to enlisting. The minimum AFQT score
required for Marines enlisting is 31, as of now. A list of minimum AFQT
scores for various branches is available at http://www.military.com/join-armed-forces/asvab/asvab-test-explained.html.

The score of the entire ASVAB battery is used to identify and select appropriate job roles (MOS) within the Marines. For this, the Marines Corps divides your total ASVAB scores into various group scores or line scores. The Marine Lines are as listed below:

CL - Clerical: VE, AR, and MK

EL - Electronics: GS, AR, MK, and EI

GT - General Technical: VE and AR

MM - Mechanical Maintenance: NO, AS, MC, and EI

ST - Skilled Technical: GS, VE, MK, and MC

Where VE is the composite score formed of weighted standard scores of PC and WK tests.

You need to get the appropriate minimum line score requirements to be selected for particular MOS positions.
For example, to be qualified for the 0121 Personnel Clerk position, you
need to get a minimum of 100 in line CL Clerical, which includes
Arithmetic Reasoning, Mathematics Knowledge, Paragraph Comprehension,
and Word Knowledge; or score GT 100 for 0861 Fire Support Man position.
A list of MOS and the corresponding minimum ASVAB Line scores is
available online at http://www.military.com/ASVAB/0,,ASVAB_MOS_USMC.html.

The minimum AFQT and ASVAB score requirements might change without prior notice. Hence, it is important that you check thoroughly and understand the requirements before taking this test.

In effect, the test for the Marines is
not different from other ASVAB tests; the difference lies in the
minimum score requirements for enlisting and classifying of job roles.
With good understanding of these score requirements, the right
aptitude, and thorough knowledge of the core course areas, a career in
Marine Corps is not a difficult thing to achieve.